A maternal figure gives first aid to a young man, offering him water and solace. This allegorical piece represents the care given to the sick and suffering by nurses at Monaco’s hospital. The bas-relief created by Charles Samuel was placed on the pediment of the entrance to the main hospital buildin...
A maternal figure gives first aid to a young man, offering him water and solace. This allegorical piece represents the care given to the sick and suffering by nurses at Monaco’s hospital. The bas-relief created by Charles Samuel was placed on the pediment of the entrance to the main hospital building, constructed between 1898 and 1902 on the orders of Prince Albert I. The new hospital officially opened on 9 April 1902, and comprised a central building used exclusively for administration, surrounded by a number of wards for treating patients. The central building housed the doctors’ offices, living quarters for the Sisters and staff, and the chapel. It was demolished in 1979, but Charles Samuel’s medallion remained. In 1964, the Albert I hospital was renamed the Princess Grace Hospital.
Charles Samuel was a Belgian sculptor and medallist born in Brussels in 1862. After learning the goldsmith’s trade, he studied sculpture at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Winner of the Prix de Rome in 1885 and 1886, Samuel earned notable distinctions at the International Expositions held in Antwerp in 1894, Brussels in 1897, and Paris in 1889. He was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Exposition in 1900. Charles Samuel contributed to the rise of the Art Nouveau movement in the Belgian capital, as evinced by his sculpture Fortune, created in 1893 from Congo ivory. Samuel produced various works commissioned by the cities of Brussels, Ixelles in Belgium, and Cologne in Germany, for which he created busts, sculptures, and war memorials. Among his creations was a bust of his first wife, the French pianist Clotilde Kleeberg, which was unveiled in 1910 at the Cercle Artistique et Littéraire in Brussels. A highly regarded sculptor and medallist, he produced bronze medallions bearing the likeness of Albert I, King of the Belgians. Charles Samuel also made a gold plaque, which was presented to Prince Albert I of Monaco by the Medical Society of Monaco. He died in Cannes in 1938.
